The Cantuai swimwear and beachwear brand has been in the Salvador market for six years and its first physical store located here in Bahia Marina is conducted by the hands of Elini and Paola, mother and daughter. The company has been tracing a history that carries strong social and sustainable positioning, in addition to the care put towards each piece delivered, all made by hand. In the chat below, we discovered a little more about the concept of the brand.
BAHIA MARINA: How did Cantuai start?
CANTUAI: Manufacturing pieces with intelligent and sustainable design, Cantuai has been in the Salvador market for six years. It was founded in Salvador in 2012. Our goal has always been to create the best quality products. With intelligent and sustainable design, pieces are created in order to guarantee an excellent performance, made to be efficient and gentle.
BM: Cantuai is a family brand. How did this partnership between mother and daughter come about?
CA: We are partners in life and work. My mother, Elini, has been working for more than 30 years in researching sewing processes for knitwear – especially for beachwear – studying modeling, sewing and finishing techniques. Graduated in Business Administration, she works especially in the management of the factory floor. I, Paola, have a genuine interest in intelligent and sustainable design. Graduated in Fashion Design, I work in the research of materials, datasheets and the whole process until the piece goes out for sale. I consider myself to be decisively creative. We are united by a meticulous passion; we work together throughout the process of creating each product.
BM: You go against the wave of rampant consumerism and create durable, sustainable and timeless pieces. In addition to environmental responsibility, the brand values local manpower. Can you tell me a bit about this process and if this way do you also reduce the environmental impacts caused by clothing manufacturing and the textile production chain as a whole? Does this only happen in large industries or are small businesses also responsible?
CA: We offer unique beachwear. We do not launch collections; we always launch the product in our three standard colors: white, black and off-white. And every six months we include a new color (only a few models are chosen to be released in that new color). We also offer lifetime warranty in case of product defect or split seams. Besides the undisputed quality of our noble mesh, which has UV protection and is also biodegradable, if the product is disposed of in a landfill (anaerobic environment), it takes about 3 years to decompose.
BM: Where does your raw material come from?
CA: We are always looking for sustainable and durable raw materials. For example, our mesh is made with high technology developed in Brazil, using the world’s first biodegradable nylon thread, the nylon 6.6. Besides jute with an ecological character, we also have jute that is part of the composition of our beach bags. The “jute” is the result of a social project in the Amazon; it is planted and harvested by local artisans, without pesticides, and then transformed in jute fabric.
BM: Who is responsible for creating and making the pieces?
CA: We are responsible for all parts of the production process, from meticulous materials research, design, modeling, cutting, sewing, photography, writing, and packaging.
BM: What types of fabrics do you use?
CA: We do not currently work with fabrics. We work with three types of knitwear, among them the tailoring knitwear, which is more structured and gives us the basis to develop pieces for winter too! Our swimsuit knits are of the CO2 control type, a mesh production concept that looks for products that are more environmentally friendly, and is exempt from toxic products for human skin, according to international certification.
BM: Why did you choose Bahia Marina to launch the physical store?
CA: In the search for new addresses, we first considered working with what already exists. But then we found a space here, with a glass storefront, ocean views, with a small garden on the back. In addition to the accessibility, parking and security, the environment here has everything to do with our beachwear.
